A Message From Anna 

"Whoa, we're (more than) halfway there!"

Our School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) Celebration Tree is now finished and isn't it just beautiful?! We are so lucky and grateful to have such a talented teacher on staff who could paint this tree in our reception area. Thank you Mie-Mie!

Students have been very excited to begin putting Chicks and Birds onto the tree this week, and we have officially passed the halfway mark for a Celebration Day! 

We currently have 22 Birds!

Bird Tally:

Compassion - 6 Birds 

Courage -  3 Birds 

Ambition -  9 Birds 

Creativity - 4 Birds 

School Wellbeing and Engagement Dog - Sully

We are pleased to inform you that Box Hill North Primary School and Kindergarten has a Wellbeing and Engagement Dog whose role is to support the social and emotional needs of our students.

Sully is a five-year-old Australian Shepherd, who has completed significant training since he was very young - specifically training to ensure he is well socialised, calm and confident when interacting with people and other animals in a variety of settings. Sully works with a variety of qualified dog trainers regularly, including K9 Connect, Alfoxton Dog Centre and Urban Dogs HQ.

Sully has also been a Wellbeing and Engagement Dog at my previous school for three years. Having had time off from his job in 2024 whilst I got settled into Box Hill North, he has had a couple of trial days at Box Hill North, and is very happy to be back to work, eager to engage with all members of the Box Hill North community.

Sully is at school a maximum of two days per week, as he needs rest days throughout the week. He will interact with all classes throughout his time at school but is primarily available for 1:1 wellbeing support for individual students as needed. Sully will work with me as his handler whilst at school. 

Tips for interacting with Sully

• Wait for him to come to you – he’s a busy guy and might not come up to you straight away.
• Stay quiet and still when he is around you, so he feels safe.
• Hold out your hand for him to sniff – smell is how he will get to know you.
• Ask Anna if you can pat him, then ask him whether he wants some pats. His favourite spot for a pat is under his chin.
• Look at the floor instead of his eyes – eye contact can be quite intimidating for a dog.
• Don’t feed him unless Anna gives you treats to give him. He might try to tell you that he’s starving, but he gets fed plenty at home!

Benefits of a Wellbeing Dog

There are several types of benefits from working with a wellbeing and engagement dog including:

• reduced stress and anxiety, including decreased learner anxiety behaviours
• improved physical and emotional wellbeing 
• improved self-esteem, empathy and interpersonal skills 
• improved relationship building and ability to pick up on social cues
• improved attendance (for disengaged students or students at risk of disengaging).

Our school follows the Department's requirements as outlined in the Animals - Wellbeing and Engagement Policy on the Policy and Advisory Library website. Documentation can be found below.

If a student doesn’t want to be around Sully at any given time, they are welcome to let Anna or their teacher know to keep Sully away from them. Anna and Sully understand that not everyone loves dogs and will provide adequate space so that everyone feels safe. 

School Council Elections

Thank you to our 2024 School Council members for providing certainty and continuity throughout a year of change at Box Hill North. 

A special thank you to Simon Hayes (four years) and Ross Davies (two years) for their respective service as school councillors over the past four years. We are so grateful for all their service and support. 

This year we will be welcoming three new parents onto our School Council. We look forward to working with Tia Schaeche, Lisa Wang and Janet Tan as brand new members of School Council. 

As we had exactly the right number of parent nominations, we haven't needed to go to a ballot for this year's election process. I look forward to continuing to consult and work with the parents of our wonderful school community, to continue building Box Hill North PSK into the very best version of itself. 

Welcome Picnic

Thank you to all the families who came along to our Welcome Picnic last week! It was so lovely to see our community come together and enjoy each other's company. Please enjoy the photos below, provided by a variety of people who got busy snapping on the night. Thank you especially to Lou who popped home to get the 'Good Camera' - see if you can tell which photos are hers! 

We're BACK on socials! 

We look forward to sharing our Box Hill North Primary School and Kindergarten LEARNING and EVENTS with our followers! If you haven't yet, please like and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages to keep an eye on the curious learning our students get up to during the school day. 

Please make sure you're interacting (liking, commenting, sharing) with our posts, so we know what sorts of things you want to see more or less of!

Instagram - @bhnpsk

Facebook - Box Hill North Primary School and Kindergarten

Anna Johnstone

Principal